Thank you for the Oil & Gas Journal's courageous and insightful editorial of May 22, 2000, "A statement of value." The oil and gas industry spends a huge sum of corporate and trade group money in the halls of Congress, the state legislatures, and through political action committees, politely playing by the rules.
Unfortunately for us, our industry's political detractors don't always play by the same rules or tactics. The polite political profile our industry effort creates for our antagonists is one of being a well-heeled, relatively small constituency, always ripe for the plucking...not unlike a conventional army in neatly starched uniforms, well organized in straight lines, perfectly aligned to be mowed down by guerilla tactics.
The political guerilla warfare being waged against our industry doesn't necessarily deal in fact or in accurate science. Instead, the ammunition of our industry's opponents is vague reasoning, ignorance of basic economics, erroneous information, and emotion. Their tactical advantage is that they operate at a grass roots political level where, as your editorial points out, the oil and gas industry hasn't been doing a very good job of communicating the value of our contributions.
Playing by old rules, spending lots of money, gets our industry polite hearings and occasional sympathy in Congress and the legislatures. But politicians truly only respond to one voice: that of their constituents at home, where our opponents focus.
As the OGJ editorial urges, our industry would be well served by articulating a unified message, a statement of value which explains the fundamental contributions we make to society. Beyond the important point of the "message," the issue becomes the medium, how the message can be most effectively communicated to regain lost ground previously conceded to our opponents. Industry would also be well served to expand our lobbying beyond Washington and the legislatures, conducting a strategic and tactical political campaign where it really counts: back to the grass roots. This is the place where opinions can be changed and new leadership can be created.
James C. Manatt Jr.
Providence Technologies Inc.
Roswell, NM
